STÉPHANE TÉTREAULT Biography
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STÉPHANE TÉTREAULT Biography In addition to innumerous awards and honours, Stéphane Tétreault recently received the 2018 Maureen Forrester Next Generation Award in recognition of his sensitivities with music, his enviable technique, and his considerable communication skills. In 2015, he was selected as laureate of the Classe d’Excellence de violoncelle Gautier Capuçon from the Fondation Louis Vuitton, and received the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto Career Development Award. Stéphane was the very first recipient of the $50,000 Fernand-Lindsay Career Award as well as the Choquette-Symcox Award laureate in 2013. First Prize winner at the 2007 Montreal Symphony Orchestra Standard Life-OSM Competition, he was named "Révélation" Radio-Canada in classical music, was chosen as Personality of the Week by La Presse newspaper, and received the Opus Award for New Artist of the Year. Chosen as the first ever Soloist-in-Residence of the Orchestre Métropolitain, he performed alongside Yannick Nézet-Séguin during the 2014-2015 season. In 2016, Stéphane made his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Nézet-Séguin and performed at the prestigious Gstaad Menuhin Festival in Switzerland. In 2017, he was part of the Orchestre Métropolitain's first European Tour with Maestro Nézet- Séguin, performing the Elgar Cello Concerto at the Kölner Philharmonie, the Philharmonie in Paris and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. In 2018, Stéphane makes his solo debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor John Storgårds. CONTACT: GINETTE RAVARY | 514.587.2464 | [email protected] WWW.STEPHANETETREAULT.COM Stéphane has performed with violinist and conductor Maxim Vengerov and pianists Alexandre Tharaud, Jan Lisiecki, Louis Lortie, Charles Richard- Hamelin and John Lenehan and has worked with conductors Michael Tilson Thomas, Paul McCreesh, John Storgårds, José-Luis Gomez, James Feddeck and Kensho Watanabe, amongst many other. He also participated in a number of masterclasses, notably with cellists Gautier Capuçon and Frans Helmerson. His debut CD, recorded with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra and conductor Fabien Gabel was chosen as "Editor's Choice" in the March 2013 issue of Gramophone Magazine. His second album with pianist Marie-Ève Scarfone featuring works from Haydn, Schubert and Brahms was chosen as Gramophone Magazine's "Critics' Choice 2016" and recognised as one of the best albums of the year. In 2017, Stéphane partnered with harpist Valérie Milot and violinist Antoine Bareil for a third album dedicated to Trios for violin, cello and harp. Stéphane has garnered great praise from the world's leading music critics: "Tétreault’s disc charmed me from the off; this is just pure, lyrical, unadulterated playing of the highest order, with a maturity that belies his 22 years... I can’t wait to hear more from him." (Charlotte Gardner, Gramophone) "His vibrato and tone are varied, his bowing techniques immaculate and his awareness of harmony and consequent shading omnipresent." (Joanne Talbot, The Strad) "The solo playing is astonishingly mature not merely in its technical attributes but also in its warmth, brilliance and subtlety of colour and inflection." (Geoffrey Norris, Gramophone) Stéphane was a student of the late cellist and conductor Yuli Turovsky for more than 10 years. He holds a Master's Degree in Music Performance from the University of Montreal. Stéphane plays the 1707 "Countess of Stainlein, Ex-Paganini" Stradivarius cello, on generous loan by Mrs. Sophie Desmarais. CONTACT: GINETTE RAVARY | 514.587.2464 | [email protected] WWW.STEPHANETETREAULT.COM Reviews Tétreault conquers Barber cello concerto with mature, convincing performance For a music critic, few things are more satisfying than watching a young prodigy bloom into a complete, mature artist. Quebec cellist Stéphane Tétreault has been making the classical music world sit up and take notice since he was a teenager. At 24, he’s fulfilled every prediction for a dazzling international career, while losing none of his passion and expressive charm. On Monday night, Tétreault played the Samuel Barber Concerto with the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra at Southam Hall. The concerto remains an obscure rarity, a work that pushes both technique and emotion to extreme limits. Tétreault’s performance was mature, organic, free of constraints, and utterly convincing. This has every indication it will become his signature piece. PETER ROBB, Arts File Philharmonie de Paris – Orchestre Métropolitain – Yannick Nézet-Séguin The beginning of the Elgar Cello Concerto with the young Canadian soloist Stéphane Tétreault went under the skin. The impressively sensitive tone he managed to elicit from his Stradivarius cello filled the great hall effortlessly. Scattered chords, pizzicati and even the highest notes came from the podium warm and elegant and were pleasantly supported by the orchestra. MICHAEL KLIER, backtrack Concertgebouw – Orchestre Métropolitain – Yannick Nézet-Séguin Tétreault combined expressive phrasing and plangent tone to create a personal interpretation of a work that requires nothing less. The 24-year-old was styled a “daredevil” by Concertgebouw general manager Simon Reinink after the performance for his wide dynamic range. Rhythms also were remarkably free, and touches of portamento, where appropriate, were provided. None of this sounded appliquée. Indeed, Tétreault’s instinct for applying and withholding vibrato was so natural that it took an act of critical effort to notice it. “You play even better, rather than being intimidated,” Nézet-Séguin told the cellist, referring to the all the ghosts occupying the Concertgebouw. “And this is the sign of the greats.” The OM accompaniment was suitably warmhearted. ARTHUR KAPTAINIS, La Scena Musicale Concertgebouw – Orchestre Métropolitain – Yannick Nézet-Séguin The Cello Concerto by Elgar became a compelling romance between the 24-year-old Stéphane Tétreault and the orchestra. With a full, creamy tone, the Canadian cellist invited his colleagues in the orchestra to play freely and convincingly. BIËLLA LUTTMER, de Volkskrant CONTACT: GINETTE RAVARY | 514.587.2464 | [email protected] WWW.STEPHANETETREAULT.COM Concertgebouw – Orchestre Métropolitain – Yannick Nézet-Séguin Cellist Stéphane Tétreault, 24 years old, was a great revelation in Elgar’s Cello Concerto. PETER VAN DER LINT, Trouw Kölner Philharmonie – Orchestre Métropolitain – Yannick Nézet-Séguin Tétreault’s Elgar, delivered as always with deep expression and speaking tone. Varied phrasing in the finale offered a microcosm of what makes this 24-year-old so special. ARTHUR KAPTAINIS, The Gazette Concertgebouw – Orchestre Métropolitain – Yannick Nézet-Séguin In Elgar’s Cello Concerto, Nézet-Séguin had willingly left the field to his very young countryman Stéphane Tétreault, who designed this elegiac swan song up to the highest altitudes in a flowery, flowing tone, as passionate as technically controlled. STEFAN RÜTTER, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger Haydn, Schubert & Brahms - Gramophone Critics' Choice 2016 What a delightful discovery this disk was; an unflashy cover, and a young cellist whose name was completely unknown to me. Yet, after no more than four bars Tétreault had my full attention, so charmed was I by his elegance, lyricism and faithful yet personality filled readings. Beautiful partnering from Scarfone, too.. CHARLOTTE GARDNER, Gramophone Gstaad Menuhin Festival ...the brilliant young cellist, Stéphane Tétreault gave a stupendous morning concert, playing each note as if his life depended on it. He interpreted works by Schubert and Shostakovich, giving meaning to each phrase of the music and justly received a standing ovation from the excited audience. PATRICIA BOCCADORO, Culturekiosque Haydn, Schubert & Brahms CD Review Tétreault’s disc charmed me from the off; from his Haydn Divertimento (originally for the viola da gamba-like baryton), through Schubert’s A minor Arpeggione Sonata and on to the Brahms, this is just pure, lyrical, unadulterated playing of the highest order, with a maturity that belies his 22 years, and matched impeccably by his duo partner, Marie-Ève Scarfone. I can’t wait to hear more from him. CHARLOTTE GARDNER, Gramophone CONTACT: GINETTE RAVARY | 514.587.2464 | [email protected] WWW.STEPHANETETREAULT.COM Haydn, Schubert & Brahms CD Review Stéphane Tétreault is certainly not driven by a superficial juvenile temperament, his performances are emotional and deep as he works out the shifting moods of the works, always perfectly supported by pianist Marie-Eve Scarfone. There is much to admire in terms of colours too, and Tétreault’s precious Stradivarius Countess von Steinlein Ex Paganini has a truly marvellous sound. REMY FRANCK, Pizzicato National Arts Centre Concert review At age 23, Tétreault possesses commanding interpretive and illuminating the modernist merits of this concerto. His eyes rarely left Nézet-Séguin’s conducting and he smiled frequently at the sound of the orchestra, his body reacting with little spasms, reflective to the thrust of the orchestra. In fact, Tétreault was rapturously inside the architecture of this music and his playing exemplar of French lyrical line, passionate and unsentimental, its musicality utterly human. LEWIS WHITTINGTON, The Classical Music Network Immaculate accounts of cello warhorses There is really little to criticise in Stéphane Tétreault’s playing – he is technically commanding yet musically stylistic and sensitive. His vibrato and tone are varied,